Samantha Smith (1972-1985) was an American schoolgirl and peace campaigner, famously invited to the Soviet Union during the early 1980s. Smith was born, raised and educated in Maine in the north-eastern United States. In November 1982 Smith, then aged 10, wrote a brief letter to newly elected Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. Smith’s letter congratulated Andropov on his appointment, then expressed concerns about the possibility of a nuclear war. She asked Andropov if he was “going to vote to have a war or not” – and if he wanted “to conquer the world, or at least our country”. Smith’s letter was received in Moscow and published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda in April 1983. She later received a personal reply from Andropov, who invited Smith and her family to visit the Soviet Union. With US-Soviet relations at a low ebb, Smith’s innocent letter and Andropov’s friendly response made headlines around the world.
In July 1983 Samantha Smith and her parents toured the USSR as the guests of the Soviet government. Smith visited major cities like Moscow and Leningrad. She also spent several days in a Soviet youth camp in the Crimea, sharing a dormitory with English-speaking Russian children. Smith’s visit was covered extensively by the Soviet and American press and she became something of a celebrity in both countries – however some dismissed her visit as a publicity stunt conceived by Soviet propagandists. After returning home Smith became a peace activist, using her profile to urge better relations and more cultural exchanges between the two superpowers. In 1986 an 11 year old Russian girl, Katya Lycheva, made a similar goodwill visit to the United States. Smith and her father were killed in August 1985 after their small aircraft crashed in Maine. Many political leaders attended her funeral or offered messages of condolence, including Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
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